Joan Jett in new Blondie video

I didn’t bother watching either to be fair

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What were the results of the polygraph test?

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I’ve heard this before, but it’s still hard to believe. I mean, it’s not like those guys were vague in their lyrics.
I wonder if he ever saw them live and then bitched that between songs Zack made political statements.
I remember listening to someone complain about seeing Springsteen one time during the second gulf war and bitched and moaned that he made comments during the show. I’ve heard the same from people seeing U2.
Are these people deaf? Dumb? I don’t get it.

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“Politics have become the new pop culture phenomena, but it seems the current landscape of music videos has so little to do with true protest or some kind of social message.” —Chris Stein

This might be true of the ‘mainstream’ but with the ubiquity of internet access and pervasiveness of music media outlets and streaming services, that word’s meaning is now constrained mostly to album sales and touring revenue. Social commentary remains alive and well among today’s musicians.

The video for Cut The World by Anohni (formerly Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons) is one such, uh, incisive example. (Warning: NSFW)

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Huh, never seen that before. Interesting who shows up at the end.

(“Incisive.” Ha.)

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That particular video isn’t so much ‘commentary’ as it is a prism, which is why I love it. Anohni suggests as much in the linked Pitchfork interview:

“It’s been provocative for me to see people try to create a moral narrative out of it. We didn’t come at it from that perspective.”

Towards the end of the interview, she expands on what inspired her to write the song:

“The song itself, I wrote about Marina [Abramović] for Life and Death. A lot of her work circles themes of endurance, particularly enduring suffering. With “Cut the World”, I’m standing beside her on the stage, suggesting, what if instead of holding in the pain-- which is a very archetypically feminine approach to suffering, like how Shiva holds the poison of the world like a blue ball in his throat-- what if she were to turn and express anger in a different way?”

“I feel unsettled by the piece, but challenged. It feels valid. I just want to be vigorous and participate as best I can, so other people feel confidence to do so. At the very least, it’s going to provoke dialogue that’s relevant to our times.”

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